The present invention is directed toward a system for disposing of nuclear waste and more particularly, toward a system which essentially buries nuclear waste permanently under water and lava.
One of the problems facing the United States and much of the industrialized world is the need for a safe, permanent, and cost-effective method for disposing of nuclear waste. As a result, many solutions have been proposed for the problem of disposing of nuclear waste.
Typically, liquid radioactive waste is disposed of by burying the waste in the earth or at sea. To prevent contamination of the surrounding environment after burial, the liquid material is solidified in some manner so that it will remain buried and will not leak the radioactive materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,977 to Gablin discloses several methods for solidifying radioactive waste liquids into hardened masses suitable for disposal by burying the masses either in the earth or at sea.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,109 to Krutenat discloses disposing of nuclear waste by placing and sealing the waste in bore holes made in tectonic plates in the subduction zone and adjacent the nondescending earth crust where the tectonic plate and waste descend into the central region of the earth. However, the subduction rate at which a plate descends is only from about 0.5 to 9.5 centimeters per year. Therefore, it would take hundreds of years before the waste would be submerged.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,564 to Bottillo discloses a method of placing nuclear waste within containers and depositing the containers within active volcanoes containing molten lava so that the containers and waste sink into the lava and are dissolved therein, thereby diluting the waste to a harmless level. This method, however, leaves some uncertainty as to whether all of the waste is truly destroyed.
Therefore, a need exists for disposing of nuclear waste in an effective, safe, rapid, and permanent manner.